Compulsive Reader talks

Peter Valentine reads from and talks about his new book World Heritage Sites of Australia.   In this wide-ranging discussion, we talk about the book and how it came about, why he’s pleased it took the more popular and less academic form of a coffee table book, the critical importance of protecting and celebrating our most important ecological areas, his plans for a second part, the need for c...

Eliana Gray reads from and talks about their new poetry book Eager to Break.   In this candid interview we talk about such things as writing about, through, and after trauma, on finding new forms of language, on writing about the body, on blurring and allowing for multitudes in pronouns, on self-acceptance, love, and healing, on eggs, and lots more.   Eager to Break can be purchased...

Richard James Allen reads from and talks about his new poetry book, The Short Story of You and I, exploring topics such as his book's themes and unique dialectical structure, the relationship between the poems and the reader, writing about love, the delicate motion between the metaphysical and the concrete, the relationship between poetry and quantum physics, complexity, the links between his many...

Bram Presser drops by to read from The Book of Dirt and we chat about many things including the Holocaust, the origins of his novel, the research he’s done, on the interplay between fact and fiction, the motif of dirt and his many golems, Czech folklore, his works in progress, and lots more.  Find out more about Bram at: https://brampresser.com/the-book-of-dirt/ We ran out of time before I co...

Anne Casey drops by to read from and talk about her debut poetry collection Where the Lost Things Go, including the poem that started it all (fifth most read item in The Irish Times “In memoriam II: The draper” which actually made both of us cry, some of the many themes in the book: loss, anger, compassion, the migrant's guilt, poetry as activism, transcendence, and lots more.  Find more abou...

Ali Whitelock reads from and talks about her latest poetry book And My Heart Crumples Like a Coke Can.   We cover such topics as Ali's particular take-no-prisoners style, on being candid, how the book came together, on being a permanent migrant, her work-in-progress, and lots more.  You can find Ali at her website: http://www.aliwhitelock.com

Poet Steve Armstrong joins us to read a number of poems from his new poetry book Broken Ground. We also talk about the healing power of poetry and the magic of nature, about his poetry practice, on writing the 'walking poem', themes, rhythms, on the subtle droll humour running through the book, the difference between writing poetry and using poetry as therapy, on the editing and structuring proces...

Jill Jones joins us to read several poems from and talk about her latest poetry book Brink.  We discuss some of the key themes in the book (what does it mean to be on the 'brink'), the changing face of eco-poetry (and why trees remain fertile subjects for poets), the way the book came together, its editing process, the relationship between fierceness, tenderness, and politics, on appropriation, co...

Poet Kathryn Fry reads a number of poems from her latest poetry collection Green Point Bearings and talks about the book's inspiration, how many of the poems came about and how the collection came together, her interest in the natural world, on mindfulness and the power of paying attention, on Ekphrasis and the paintings of Margaret Olly, the notion of 'grace from loss' and Wendy Whiteley's secret...

Holly Ringland, author ofThe Lost Flowers of Alice Hart joins us to read a little from the book and talk about the wonderful language of flowers she invents for the book and how that came about, writing and trauma, her recently completed book tour, the impact of leaving Australia, Alice in Wonderland, Sturt's Desert Peas and Alice Springs, on the visceral nature of her book and its promotion, and...

Tracy Sorensen drops by Compulsive Reader Talks to read from and chat about her new book The Lucky Galah. The conversation is wide ranging but we talk about such things as her fabulous main character Lucky, about anthropomorphism and the relationship between the human and natural worlds, about 'hooking up' with author Charlotte Wood, about the Varuna writer retreat and retreats in general, about t...

The wonderful Jennifer Maiden joins me at Macleans Booksellers in Hamilton NSW for a launch of her new book Appalachian Fall, including a Q&A, 3 poems, and audience questions.  The talk, which is opened by a reading from the introduction by Quemar Press publisher Katharine Margot Toohey, is wide ranging and explores such things as how the book came about, its inspiration, the relationship between...

Jessica Townsend, the author of Nevermoor: the Trials of Morrigan Crow drops by to read from and chat about her book, which has been had the biggest children’s debut in the Australian market since records began.  We talk about the book's outrageous success, about target markets and how it's impossible to work to them, about magic, about the broader series (including some hints about what's coming...

Gerry Orz is an award winning actor, director, producer, youth activist, and author of the book Lucky or Not, Here I come, released this month.  He drops by to read from Lucky or Not Here I Come and to discuss his inspiration for the book, some of the key themes, why he decided to broaden his already extensive list of accomplishments to include 'novelist', his characters and their relationships, t...

Award-winning author Patti Miller reads from and talks about her new nonfiction book Writing True Stories. Patti reads from chapter one, and we discuss such things as how Patti became the "memoir whisperer", the rise and rise of the memoir in all of its multi-genred formats, on how we are all creating narrative as we make meaning of our lives (how everyone has a story), on the encouragement of exp...

The award-winning author of Goodbye, Cruel, reads from her new book and talks about how it came together, the structure, her linked suites, the influence of Dante, her attraction to Rabi'a Balkhi and Persian poetry in general, on writing about sensitive subjects like suicide, and much more.  Find more about Melinda at her publisher's page: https://pittstreetpoetry.com/melinda-smith/  or on Faceboo...

Poet and novelist Jennifer Maiden drops by to read from her latest novel Play With Knives: Three: George and Clare and the Grey Hat Hacker, and to talk about all three novels in the Play With Knives series, about the joy of working her poetic and complex words and ideas through a thriller styled plot, about her characters George Jeffreys and Clare Collins, and the way they continue to appear throu...

Nutritionist Dr Joanna McMillan talks about her new book Get Lean, Stay Lean, including how the book came together, why people are still struggling with nutritional and weightloss, outlines the Dr Joanna plate, her six steps to success and which one is the most unusual, about the importance of joy, her recipes, about how to sort through the fads (and which is the most dangerous), about eating sust...

Michele Seminara drops by to read from and talk about her poetry book Engraft and how it came together, the variety of forms and how she uses the page, about writing through Shakespeare, Kafka and other authors, about the tension between tradition and post-modernism, about the use of humour and play amidst dark themes, about Verity La which Michele is Managing Editor of, about her new book Scar to...

Michelle Cahill reads "Aubade for Larkin" and talks about her new book Letter to Pessoa, including the book's genesis, its shifting genres (and genders), about literary connection and disconnection, about writing meta-fiction, and the intersections between writing practice and philosophical discourse, about Derrida, about “ambulatory praxis” or the simultaneity of multiple place and the migrant ex...

Tim Elliott joins us to read from and talk about his memoir Farewell to the Father.  He discusses how the initial article and book came about, the reasons for its powerful impact on readers, the themes that underlie the book including notions of failure, toxic masculinity, and the keeping of secrets, mental illness and the changing perception of it, about the difficulties (and joy) of writing memo...

Joel Deane reads from and talks about his new poetry book Year of the Wasp.  Joel discusses a number of the themes and motifs throughout the book and in individual poems, the way the book came together, the power of poetry in getting to the heart of who we are, metapoetics and the artistic process, about the intersection of poetry and trauma, about the way his work connects wtih visual art, the in...

Poet, performer, professor and new media artist Hazel Smith drops by to read from and talk about her latest book of poetry Word Migrants. Hazel is an incredible reader and her readings alone are worth listening to, but she also talks with me about the genesis of the book as a whole, and about each of the poems she reads, about the sonic/musical quality of her work, her key themes, particularly mig...

Author, novelist, journalist, broadcaster, columnist, advertising writer and social commentator Jane Caro, chats about her memoir Plain-Speaking Jane, about the power of plain speaking - not just in terms of being candid, but in terms of breaking silence and comunicating with different audiences (with a bit of Australian politics thrown in there too...), about the power of connections, about her a...

In this special "on location" Sydney Writers Festival show, Vivian Gornick reads from and talks about the writing of her latest book The Odd Woman and the City, about the nature (and freedom) of “oddness”, about the joy and vitality of New York City, about the literary self vs the living self, the conversation between life and literature, about the nature of factual truth and memory, about self-do...